Corona cases rise in China 21.12.2022

1. So far, two cases have been reported from Gujarat, two from Odisha, in which the BF.7 variant has been detected. It has already been detected in several other countries, including the US and UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
2. The government, though advising people to wear masks in crowded places, has said that there is no need to panic — a suggestion repeated Adar Poonawalla of vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII).
3. After a review today, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted, "COVID is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation."
4. The union government has also asked states to send samples to labs for genome sequencing, which can help identify the variant or sub-variant.
5. "ln view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants," read a letter from Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan to all states.
6. At the Covid review meet chaired by the minister on Wednesday, experts said that though there is no overall increase in Covid caseload as of now in India, there is a need for continued surveillance to keep a track of existing and emerging variants.
7. BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5, and has the strongest infection ability since it is highly transmissible, has a shorter incubation period, and has a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated, news agency PTI reported.The high degree of spread in Chinese cities — including the capital city of Beijing — is also being attributed to a "low level of immunity", possbly due to previous infections.
8. When the first case of BF.7 infection showed up, health expert Dr Rajeev Jayadevan had said, "Ever since Omicron arrived in November 2021, it has been giving off branches which divide into smaller branches. Of these, BA.2 and BA.5 proved to be stronger than the rest. BA.5.1.7 and BF.7 are names given to downstream descendants of BA.5."
9. India reported 129 fresh infections over the last 24 hours, as reported on Wednesday, and the number of active cases currently stands at 3,408. One death was recorded over the last 24 hours.

Meghalaya Government launches ‘Asia’s first Drone delivery hub for easy access to healthcare’

08 December 2022
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Meghalaya Government launches ‘Asia’s first Drone delivery hub for easy access to healthcare’

The Meghalaya government in partnership with startup TechEagle has unveiled Asia’s first drone delivery hub and network which is aimed at providing universal access to healthcare for the people in the state. The project is aimed at delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network.

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Important points:

• The first official drone flight took off from Jengjal Sub Divisional Hospital, which will act as the hub, and delivered medicines to Padeldoba primary health centre in less than 30 minutes, which would otherwise have taken 2.5 hours by road, TechEagle said in the release.
• TechEagle’s Vertiplane X3 Drone delivered different healthcare products in its first flight which was five times faster in comparison to ground transportation.
• Meghalaya Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) and hub in Phase 1 is a combination of one central hub and 25 spokes (supply chain nodes) in a radius of 50 kilometres where the drone hub at Jengal hospital will act as the centre point, according to TechEagle.
• TechEagle’s drones are capable of vertical takeoff and landing from small areas which enables both forward and reverse logistics of healthcare products in the network, as per the company.

Important takeaways for all competitive exams: 

• Meghalaya Capital: Shillong;
• Meghalaya Chief Minister: Conrad Kongkal Sangma;
• Meghalaya Governor: B. D. Mishra.

New York Film Critics Circle awards 2022: Filmmaker SS Rajamouli won Best Director

05 December 2022
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New York Film Critics Circle awards 2022: Filmmaker SS Rajamouli won Best Director

New York Film Critics Circle 2022:

Filmmaker SS Rajamouli won the Best Director Award for RRR at the New York Film Critics Circle 2022. The group is one of the first critics’ groups to weigh in on the awards season. Rajamouli’s win surprised many as his competitors included Steven Spielberg, Darron Aronofsky, Sarah Polley, and Gina Prince-Blythewood. A pre-Independence fictional story, “RRR” stars Ram Charan and Jr NTR as real-life Indian revolutionaries in the 1920s Alluri Sitarama Raju and Komaram Bheem, respectively.

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Notably: After earning more than Rs 1200 crore at the worldwide box office, the film emerged as one of the most successful films at the box office in India and received rave reviews from Indian film critics. However, it was not selected as India’s official entry for Oscars 2023.

At the New York Film Critics Circle:

• Todd Field’s Tar has won the Best Picture of the year, also nabbing Best Actress for Cate Blanchett’s leading performance.
• Colin Farrell won Best Actor for two of his performances this year — Kogonada’s future-set sci-fi drama After Yang and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin.
• Ke Huy Quan has won the Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once,
• Keke Palmer won the Best Supporting Actress for Nope.